Travis Barker Selects Winner of Guitar Center's Your Next Record Unsigned Artist Competition

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center (http://www.guitarcenter.com), the world's largest musical instrument retailer, and Travis Barker today announced Twin Berlin as the winner of Guitar Center's Your Next Record unsigned artist competition. After an intense 8-week period of peer judging through OurStage.com, Barker personally selected the winning band from the top 100 artists entered, sending one talented unsigned band into Red Bull Studios in Los Angeles with the acclaimed drummer and producer.

As winner, Twin Berlin will have the opportunity to record a 3-song EP with Barker, have Barker appear on their single from the EP, receive worldwide digital distribution of the album through TuneCore as well as $10,000 in new gear from Guitar Center.

"This was definitely not an easy decision, a lot of these artists really stepped up," says Barker.  "I can't wait to get into the studio with Twin Berlin.  Their mix of gritty guitars and undeniable hooks really drew me in.  I think we'll be able to create some incredible music together.  It's really cool that Guitar Center has given an unsigned band such a unique opportunity."

A Connecticut-based trio with a growing following in the Boston-area, Twin Berlin (http://www.ourstage.com/profile/twinberlin) draw from a recent rock lineage that includes The Strokes, The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys.  The band's high-energy sound has already garnered heavy radio airplay on FNX Radio Boston and a MTV VMA "Best Breakout Boston" award nomination.  Another huge career boost will come from the break Guitar Center has provided through the Your Next Record competition, and the chance to work with a respected artist like Travis Barker.

"This is an unbelievable opportunity for us," says Twin Berlin's James Janocha.  "We were literally jumping around the room when we got the call.  We're in debt to Guitar Center now, it's just amazing to see a company take this kind of interest in helping unsigned bands.  We never expected anyone to fork over this kind of opportunity.  And Travis is someone we've wanted to work with really bad.  He's got a punk touch, but he's also up on all kinds of music and what's cutting edge, so we feel like he'll bring a fresh touch to what we're doing."

In March 2011, Guitar Center teamed up with Barker, whose solo album Give The Drummer Some is out now, and commissioned OurStage.com (http://artists.ourstage.com/Welcome), the leading online music company for unsigned bands, adopting its proprietary competition management technology to collect and present each music artist's submissions, allowing music fans to rank them using the OurStage.com fan judging software. Each competing artist was equipped with digital tools to help encourage their fans to judge their submissions as well as other talented unsigned artists. After the 8-week submission and judging period, Barker personally evaluated the top 100 artists to select Twin Berlin as the winner of Guitar Center's Your Next Record with Travis Barker. The prize package includes:

• A 3-song ep produced by Travis Barker at Red Bull Studios in Los Angeles
• Travis Barker to appear on a the winning artists single
• $10,000 in new gear from Guitar Center
• Worldwide distribution of the winners music through TuneCore

Guitar Center Presents Your Next Record is just one of many Guitar Center initiatives created to foster growth and success within the music community. In addition to the first two editions of this competition, Your Next Record with Slash and Your Next Record with Keith Urban, Guitar Center also provides its annual King of the Blues, Drum-Off and On-Stage competitions to emerging musicians, among others.

Guitar Center's King of the Blues is a nationwide amateur guitar skills competition with the goal of finding the next great undiscovered blues guitar player.

Drum-Off, now in its 22nd year, is an annual drumming competition that has served as a launching pad for many drummers, including Cora Coleman-Dunham and Tony Royster, Jr., two Drum-Off winners who have gone on to become highly acclaimed professional drummers with Prince and Jay Z, respectively.

Guitar Center On-Stage is an annual competition judged by a legendary rock band. Each year, the winning band wins an opening slot for the judges, which this year is alt-rock pioneers Jane's Addiction.

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the world's largest retailer of guitars, amplifiers, drums, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 219 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.

The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

About Travis Barker

Travis Barker first hit the music scene as the drummer for the rock band trio, Blink 182. Since then, he has become an icon in the drumming world, with people from all sorts of musical genres asking him to play live or guest on their records. Barker is currently involved in many projects, including working on the new Transplants album, in the studio recording the new BLINK 182 album and his most ambitious project to date, his solo album "Give The Drummer Some."

Barker released his highly anticipated solo album, 'Give the Drummer Some' through Interscope earlier this year. Not only did he produce the entire album, but he plays on every track, and each song features a who's who in music. Guest appearances include RZA, Tom Morello, Snoop, Lil Wayne, Tim Armstrong, The Game, Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross, Beanie Sigel, Bun B, Cory Taylor, Pharrell, Swizz Beats and many more. His single "Can a Drummer get some' featuring Swizz Beats, The Game, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne is currently in heavy radio rotation and available now on iTunes.  Barker is also preparing to hit the road on tour with Blink 182.

About OurStage.com

Founded in 2007, OurStage.com (www.ourstage.com) is a leading destination for music listening, discovery, and quality editorial content. With more than 175,000 artists from 40 styles of music, OurStage.com receives 4.5 million visits each month from 170 countries. OurStage.com's most acclaimed feature is its proprietary software where the site's listeners judge the music of emerging artists for competitions that reward major prizes to the winners. Through these competitions, listeners help artists to become finalists and win competitions, receiving priceless opportunities to warm up for headlining acts and/or record with major label performers. To date, OurStage.com has provided opportunities for artists to open concerts for Bon Jovi, Drake, Goo Goo Dolls, HANSON, John Legend, Lilith 2010, John Mayer, Monica, T-Pain, Trey Songz, Keith Urban, Travis Barker, Jane's Addiction and many others. OurStage.com is currently partnered with Clear Channel, Guitar Center, MTV, and Radio One on content and marketing initiatives. For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ourstage and http://ourstage.com.  

SOURCE Guitar Center